


Columbidae

by isquinnabel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, White Collar
Genre: Chocolate Box Treat, Conspiracy Theories, Crossover, First Meetings, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 07:17:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13676892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isquinnabel/pseuds/isquinnabel
Summary: Luna goes to New York, expecting to find a business contact. Instead, she makes a new friend.





	Columbidae

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lirin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lirin/gifts).



Luna came to New York to meet with a potential client. Customers were few and far between, so it was as good a reason as any to explore an unfamiliar city. She was fascinated by this place; in particular, she was interested in the moniker "the city that never sleeps". She had heard that the reason for this name was a Brooklyn warlock, known for his unusually potent invigoration draughts, that gave one the ability to stay awake for years on end. The United States Department of Magical Governance had confiscated all remaining bottles, and goodness only knew what they were doing with them.

Of course, before she did any exploring, she had business to take care of.

She followed the instructions with great solemnity. She sat on the designated park bench. She opened her muggle newspaper to the correct section. She crossed her right leg over her left leg, and gave an exaggerated yawn.

Next thing she knew, a small man, wearing a dark hat and sunglasses, sat casually down on the bench behind hers. He tapped a staccato rhythm on the bench with his knuckles.

Her heart leapt. The signal!

The man turned carefully sideways.  
“Do you have the product?” he murmured.  
Luna gave a broad grin.  
“Follow me.”

She had left it at the other side of the park. It was unlikely to be stolen, and even if it was, she had a plentiful supply.

While Luna walked jauntily along, the man maintained a careful five-pace distance. But all pretence of nonchalance was dropped when he saw what was waiting behind the bushes.

“Dirigible plums!” he exclaimed. “You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for these!”

  


* * *

  


The next day, Luna was in Central Park, studying the pigeons.

It took a well-trained eye to tell the difference between a knolipi and a pigeon, and Luna was determined to master this skill. As far as she knew, American cities didn’t have thriving knolipi populations, so she was taking the opportunity to thoroughly acquaint herself with the common pigeon: the way it looked, moved, sounded, ate, lived, loved, and so on. The better she understood regular pigeons, the likelier she was to notice a masquerading knolipi. 

A cluster of pigeons was pecking cheerfully away at an abandoned donut. She was adding a few quick strokes to her sketch, humming quietly to herself and biting the ends of her hair, when she heard a voice call her name.

She looked up. The man from yesterday -- Mozzie, his name was -- hurried towards her with an excited bounce in his step.

“Look!”  
He unbuttoned his jacket. A dirigible plum hung from a thin chain around his neck. Luna, beaming, pulled back her hair.  
“Me too!”  
“Earrings!” He nodded. “Close to your brain. Of course. I don’t think I can wear them that way. I can’t attach them to my ears without them falling off.”  
“You could fasten them to your hat,” she suggested.

Mozzie enthusiastically agreed, and they spent the next few minutes working away at this task. It wasn’t easy, but Luna had her wand handy. She usually kept it up her sleeve in muggle cities, just in case something terrible happened. But this, of course, was far from terrible. She waved her hand upward, pretending to scratch her ear, and cast a quick non-verbal spell.

“Done!”  
He popped the hat back on his head.  
“Very handsome,” she said approvingly.  
Mozzie, looking rather pleased with himself, nodded at her half-finished sketch. “Are you a woman of the arts?"  
“Oh, not quite. I’m just investigating pigeons.”  
If there was anything odd about that sentence, Mozzie didn’t notice. In fact, this seemed to pique his interest.  
“You know,” he said, “if you want to meet some real pigeons, I’m your man.”  
“These aren’t real pigeons?” Luna turned, gazing carefully at the nearest bird. It looked real enough. But, of course, Luna knew not to trust everything her eyes told her.  
Mozzie stood up.  
“Come on! I’ll introduce you to Estelle.”

Luna gathered her things and followed Mozzie. They walked through the park together, dirigible plums bouncing, attracting the occasional sidelong glance.  
“You know, pigeons are remarkable animals,” he said.  
“Really?”  
“Really! In fact, the US Government uses pigeons for some of its most heavily classified correspondence.”  
Luna’s eyes widened.  
“Why?”  
“Because they’re untraceable.”  
“How fascinating,” murmured Luna. She hadn't realised the muggle world used owl post. Or, to be more accurate, pigeon post. “What else does the US Government do?”  
Mozzie’s eyes lit up.  
“This might take awhile. Are you free for lunch?”


End file.
